Stop In The Name Of The Law

I've seen more people react to Kevin Durant going to the Warriors than a clear video of Alton Sterling getting murdered by cops. It's fair if you haven't seen the video. Or that you're just completely speechless like me. Hell, this is my first time expressing myself on it. But it's time for EVERYONE to not only join the conversation, but to shout out loud that all of this needs to stop.

I'm aware being an officer is not an easy job by any means. And it seems a big part of the job and how you handle things is based purely on gut instinct and split-second reactions. But if you're an authority figure with the given power to kill if needed, you must absolutely demonstrate more judgement and responsibility. Yes, sometimes you have to protect and serve not just the community, but also yourself, so that you can go back home to your family. But the badge doesn't give you the right to prevent another person from going back home to their family by pulling the trigger 5-6 times point blank into their chest just inches away while another officer pins them down. Yeah, he may have had a gun, but he didn't have it in his hands. And now there's blood on yours.

I truly believe there are more good cops out there than bad. I'm not even sure if these particular officers were "bad" and set out to kill another black man like the others you can name on that unnecessarily long list. But last night they did. They did it when they didn't have to. And now, we all need to do what we have to to make this stop. It's disgusting. It's sad. It can't happen again.

On another note, fuck KD and the Warriors.

**UPDATE: Mere hours after I wrote this, it happened again. Add Philando Castile to the list.